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Green-winged Orchid – Viagra of the Ancients
November 18, 2011 | 
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ORCHIDACEAE Orchis morio
Appearance
The violet-red flowers are borne in a loose, terminal spike. The leaves are lanceolate, broadest at the center and unspotted; the ones at the bottom level are structured in a rosette, those at the summit are sheathed and upright. A perennial herb with spherical tubers and an erect leafy stem. The side petals are curved upward to form a helmet-shaped structure with conspicuous green veins; the lower lip is three-lobed. The fruit is a capsule with numerous very small seeds.
History
They are collected for therapeutic needs only where they still grow abundantly but they have been replaced by other, less-expensive herbal remedies.
Green-winged Orchid is reasonably plentiful in the south of Britain but is rarer in other places. Another indigenous British orchid, Broad-leaved Marsh Orchid [Dactylorhiza majalis), has a far more scattered and local distribution. It can be distinguished from Green-winged Orchid by its split tubers, usually spotted leaves, pinkish-mauve flowers and the side petals which are spreading and not formed into a helmet.
These species along with other orchids are declining in quantities in the wild and many are now protected.
At one time orchids were utilized as aphrodisiacs and the generic name, Orchis, from a Greek word for testicle, pertains to the appearance of the tubers. Green-winged Orchid’s specific name, morio, however, means ‘fool’! A nutritious drink known as salep is still produced from the dried tubers of some orchids, chiefly species of Orchis.
Usage
The tubers are the medicinal elements. Their constituents include about 50 per cent of mucilage that changes by hydrolysis to mannose and glucose, as well as 30 per cent of starch and proteins.
These elements give Green-winged Orchid emollient, stomachic and antidiarrhoeal characteristics and it was previously used for intestinal and abdominal disorders.
Growth characteristics
Green-winged Orchid grows patchily throughout Europe in dry meadows and pastures, especially on lime-rich earth.
Flowering period: May to June.(Northern hemisphere)
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Bilberry, Whortleberry, Blaeberry – Berry Many Names
ERICACEAE Vaccinium myrtillus
Appearance
The alternating, briefly stalked leaves are oval, finely serrate and vivid green; they are easily distinguished from those of Cowberry. The pitcher-shaped pinkish or greenish-pink flowers with rather short turned-back lobes grow singly or in pairs in the upper leaf axils. A low deciduous subshrub with a creeping rhizome and numerous erect, leafy, branched, green and angled stems..The fruit is a globose, edible, blackish berry with a blue-grey bloom.
History
Vaccinium is the ancient designation for this and related plants. The specific epithet refers to the leaves, which are similar to those of Myrtle (Myrtus communis). The derivation of the ‘bil’ and ‘whortle’ in the traditional names is unknown; ‘blae’ means blue-black.
Often associated with improvement of night sight, bilberries are cited in a popular story of World War II RAF pilots eating bilberry jam to sharpen vision for night missions. However, a contemporary study by the U.S. Navy found no such benefit and origins of the RAF story cannot be established.
Although the effect of bilberry on night vision is unproven, laboratory research in rats have provided preliminary evidence that bilberry consumption may inhibit or reverse eye conditions such as macular degeneration.
Usage
- The sweet fruits, which are rich in vitamins, have long been a popular food. They have also been a traditional treatment for diarrhoea.
- The leaves of non-flowering twigs and the fruits are used medicinally. The constituents of the leaves include tannins, organic acids, a glycoside (arbutin) and plant insulins. These substances give the leaves astringent, antiseptic, diuretic and weak hypoglycaemic properties; they are used in an infusion for gastritis, enteritis, and diarrhoea.
- Dried berries are chewed to control diarrhoea.
- They are also incorporated in natural herbal tea mixtures with an antisclerotic action. It is advisable not to take this infusion in strong doses or over a long period of time.
- The ripe berries are used fresh or dried. They comprise of sugars, pectin, organic acids, tannins, mineral salts, vitamins B and C and organic pigments (anthocyanins).
- Wine and an alcoholic extract from the berries also provide a costive action.
- The pressed liquid from the berries and conserves are good for mouth and throat infections.
- The wholesome berries can be enjoyed raw or stewed and made into pies.
Growth Characteristics
Albeit bilberries are indigenous to Europe and grow on humus-rich acidic damp soils in heaths, woods and on moors, they are present in very acidic, nutrient-poor soils throughout the temperate and subarctic regions of the globe. One attribute of bilberries is that they produce single or paired berries on the bush rather than clusters, as the blueberry does.
Flowering time April to June (Northern hemisphere)
Garlic The Essential Herb
LILIACEAE Allium sativum
Appearance
Garlic is a perennial herb with a bulb which is split into segments (Known as cloves), basal linear leaves and an erect stalk terminated by an umbel with numerous small bulbils between the purplish-white flowers. The flower cluster is encircled by a sheath (spathe) of papery bracts. The fruit is a capsule with black seeds; the seeds do not ripen in cultivated plants.
History
Surrounded by myth and legend, garlic is truly one of the oldest herbs, believed to have originated in Central Asia. It was used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans to give vitality and stamina and it is still one of the world’s most useful culinary and medicinal plants.
Garlic has long been planted as a crucial vegetable, seasoning and medicinal herb.
Garlic’s name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term garleac, from gar (= a spear) and leac (= a leek), supposedly meaning ‘a leek with cloves like spearheads’.
Garlic is a wonderful plant that played as great an role in the ancient spice trade as it does right now. Whether you like it or otherwise, there’s no escaping this useful herb.
Usage
ALWAYS CONSULT A MEDICAL EXPERT BEFORE BEGINNING A HOME TREATMENT; THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS IN NO WAY INTENDED TO REPLACE YOUR DOCTOR’S PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.
- Garlic is a powerful medicinal herb with extraordinary antibiotic qualities. The bulb is used medicinally, either fresh, dried or otherwise prepared. It includes essential oils and iodine.
- It is a blood tonic and has strong antiviral properties.
- If taken routinely it will remove harmful build up within the blood, kidneys and liver.
- Under medical supervision it can be used to bring down high cholesterol and ease high blood pressure.
- It is an energizing cleanser, tonic and energizer – its hypotensive and cardiovascular activitv has been well investigated as has its antiseptic and expectorant effect on the entire respiratory system.
- It is used to deal with intestinal illness, hypertension and arteriosclerosis, and it helps digestion by stimulating bile secretions.
- Externally Garlic can be applied to insect bites, boils and unbroken chilblains, but it may cause an allergic rash if used for too long.
- Garlic has certainly come of age worldwide; once regarded as a smelly European ingredient it is now in demand in many countries and for a wide variety of foods. The phenomenal popularity in the last decades of Italian cuisine is possibly the single most significant reason for the renewed superstar status of garlic
- Chewing a leaf of basil, mint, parsley or thyme helps to cleanse the breath after eating garlic.
Propagation and harvesting
Breeding and selection has yielded countless types, which are propagated by planting the cloves in rows in prepared ground.
Autumn is the right time to plant garlic. Plant individual cloves 5-7cm apart in shallow trenches in well dug, richly composted soil and full sun.
When planting garlic make certain that the pointed end faces up.
Water your plants two or three times a week in hot weather conditions.
Your garlic is ready to harvest once the flat long leaves start to turn pale and papery. Tie the bulbs in bunches and suspend them in an airy structure to dry and develop the rich, pungent flavour that garlic is popular for.
Flowering time: July to September.(Northern Hemisphere)
Companion planting
- Parsley performs very well indeed when raised close to garlic and it is employed to clear the breath of garlic’s strong sulphur compounds.
- Additional excellent companion plants are beetroot, orange and lemon trees, lettuce, roses and even tomatoes.
- Grown around citrus fruit trees garlic forms an excellent barrier against caterpillars, borers and cutworms and aids in inhibiting leaf curl.
- It improves the taste of cherry tomatoes grown nearby and keep beetles and grasshoppers to a minimum.
- Do not plant garlic in near proximity to cabbages, beans, peas, strawberries or broccoli because they will not do well next to garlic.
Vervain the Versatile Herb
verbena officilanis
Appearance
Vervain is a perennial herb sporting a rectangular, stiff and erect stem, which is typically randomly branched. It is sparsely leafy in the top section, frequently with with semi-circular teeth;the diametrically opposed dull-green leaves are pinnately divided into oblong lobes, often with rounded teeth, the end lobe having a greater size than the others. The topmost leaves are smaller and sparsely divided. All parts of the plant are coarsely hairy. The small, double-lipped pale lilac flowers are displayed in elongated terminal spikes. Plants yield a foursome of nutlike burgundy coloured fruit.
History
The name, Vervain, comes from verbena, the classic Roman term for altar plants used in religious ceremonies. Vervain is native to much of Europe in sheltered spots spread around the countryside. Uncommon in Britain, where it is native, but principally in England and Wales. Vervain has a history interwoven with legends of sorcery, magic and its properties as a medicinal herb. Lovers used it in love potionsand the triumphant Roman soldiers carried it for protection.
Usage
- Vervain was once used to ward off plague.
- To this day it is a popular herbal remedy for nervous complaints.
- When worn round the head, it was believed to repel headaches and prevent poisonous bites from snakes, spiders and scorpions.
- The flowering stems are used medicinally. Their constituents include the glycosides verbenalin and verbenin, tannins, an essential oil, mucilage, saponins and mineral compounds. These substances give Vervain astringent, diuretic, stomachic, tonic, diaphoretic, antispas-modic, vulnerary, mild sedative and hypnotic properties.
- It is used internally in an infusion for various disorders associated with the stomach, liver and kidneys. It is great for stimulating the metabolism, treating general nervous exhaustion, insomnia and migraine.
- Externally Vervain is used in gargles and in compresses and bath preparations for skin disorders. An extract from the fresh plant is used in homeopathy.
Sunflower the Versatile Crop
COMPOSITAE/ASTERACEAE Helianthus annuus
Appearance
The large, terminal showy flower heads are made up of yellow ray-florets, which are sterile, and purplish-brown, tubular disc-florets. The fruit is a slightly flattened achene, frequently streaked with white and black.
Sunflower is a large annual herb with an upright, occasionally branched hairy stem. The many leaves are sizeable and chordate, opposite below and alternate and long-stalked above.
History
Sunflowers were initially grown by American Indians some time before 1000 BC. It was introduced to Europe in the 16th century yet somehow failed to emerge as a major food plant until it reached Russia, where large-scale cultivation started. Today it is grown as a field crop commercially in a great many areas of the world for oil, fodder and decoration.
There are many cultivated varieties, some with flower heads up to 40 cm wide. The popular name, Sunflower, and the generic name, Helianthus (from the Greek words helios ~ sun and anthos ~ flower), were purportedly given to the plant since it tracks the sun by day, continually turning in the direction of its direct rays.
Equally as possible an explanation is that the plant was so-named simply because the flower heads with disc and ray suggest the sun’s overall look.
The leaves and flowers were once used to attend to malaria.
Usage
- In homeopathy a tincture from the seeds is employed internally to relieve constipation and externally on cuts and bruises.
- The expressed fatty oil from the seeds contains glycerides of unsaturated lino-lenic and oleic acids (around 45 per cent) and saturated palmitic and arachic acids (about 4 per cent).
- It can be used in salves, plasters and liniments for rheumatic discomfort.
- It is also frequently used in food items as a salad and margarine oil, in soaps and as a lubricant.
- The seeds can also be roasted and eaten, employed as a coffee replacement and ground up into flour.
- The dried flower heads are also made use of medicinally in some countries. They have diuretic, carminative, anti-inflammatory and antidiarrhoeal attributes.
Growth Characteristics
Sunflower is a native of western North America. Flowers June to September
Toxic Medicinal Herbs Parents Must Avoid
Foxglove Digitalis purpurea
Some herbal remedies ought not to be taken if there is a pre-existing kidney, liver or heart condition, or if an individual is diabetic. For example, Juniper should not be taken by those with inflamed kidneys and Rhubarb not by individuals with urinary conditions and kidney stones and uroliths.
Professional guidance should always be sought if there is any question about the toxicity of a plant or about the interactions of herbal remedies with other medicines that are currently being taken. Guidance should be sought if there is any doubt about the safety of a herbal treatment for a child.
Compared to synthetic drugs very few herbal remedies have been clinically screened in a scientific way for both their beneficial and potentially harmful properties. It is hence inadvisable for expecting mothers to take any herbal reme’dy aside from very mild herbal teas (for example, Chamomile) and those prescribed by a qualified medical or herbal practitioner.
The collection and processing of medicinal plants are closely supervised and the resulting medications are prescribed meticulously by qualified professional medical personnel.
Some highly toxic plants provide such important medicines (alkaloids and glycosides primarily) that they are cultivated commercially for the pharmaceutical industry (such as, Ergot Fungus, Deadly Nightshade, Foxgloves and Opium Poppy). A selection of extremely toxic medicinal plants is listed below; keep in mind we have used what we consider the best known name, but for regional and language differences have also incorporated the scientific (Latin) name.
Bittersweet solanum-dulcamara
These herbs should NEVER be collected and prepared for use in the home:
- Biting Stonecrop Sedum acre
- Bittersweet Solanum dulcamara
- Black-berried Bryony Bryonia alba
- Box Buxus sempervirens
- Bulbous Corydalis Corydalis cava
- Castor-oil Plant Ricinus communis
- Christmas Rose Helleborus niger
- Cowbane Cicuta virosa
- Crown Vetch Coronilla varia
- Deadly Nightshade Atropa belladonna
- Erect Clematis Clematis recta
- Ergot Fungus Claviceps purpurea
- False Acacia Robinia pseudoacacia
- False Helleborine Veratrum album
- Forking Larkspur Delphinium consolida (= Consolida regalis)
- Foxglove Digitalis purpurea
- Hedge Hyssop Gratiola officinalis
- Hemlock Conium maculatum
- Hemp Cannabis saliva
- Henbane Hyoscyamus niger
- Iranian Poppy Papaver bracteatum
- Ivy Hedera helix
- Laburnum Laburnum anagyroides
- Large Yellow Foxglove Digitalis grandiflora
- Lily-of-the-Valley Convallaria majalis
- Lesser Periwinkle Vinca major
- Lords-and-Ladies Arum maculatum
- Male Fern Dryopteris filix-mas
- Meadow Saffron Colchicum autumnale
- Mezereon Daphne mezereum
- Monkshood Aconitum napellus
- Opium Poppy Papaver somnifertim
- Thornapple Datura stramonium
- Wild Lettuce Lactuca virosa
- Woolly Foxglove Digitalis lanata
- Yellow Pheasant’s Eye Adonis vernalis
- Yew Taxus baccata
Yellow Pheasant's Eye adonis vernalis
If plant poisoning is suspected, medical attention needs to be sought straight away.
For commercial cultivation, increased yields of the medicinally active substances are obtained by breeding varieties with a continuous, high concentration of the desired substances or by special preparation techniques.
Occasionally the poisons occur only in certain elements of the plant — the leaves, fruits or rootstock. For example, the flowers of Forking Larkspur are not poisonous, but the other parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, are very toxic.
A curious aspect of poisonous plants is that the concentration of toxic substances in them is not consistent; it varies according to such factors as the locality, the time of year, the time of day, the temperature and whether it is damp or dry, sunny or overcast.
Remember also that the everyday Potato (Solanum tuberosum) tuber is normally quite harmless, as long as it is not green (when green it is poisonous), but the flowers and young leaves are toxic.
Meadowsweet – Herb for Sore Tummies
ROSACEAE Filipendula ulmaria (syn. Spiraea ulmaria)
Appearance
The small, creamy-white, fragrant flowers are arranged in a terminal corymb. The flowers have reflexed hairy sepals and numerous long stamens.
A perennial herb with a short, pink rhizome and a tough, erect, branched and leafy stem. The stem leaves are alternate, odd-pinnate, doubly serrate, dark green above and usually white-felted below; the stipules are broadly cordate and conspicuous.
The fruit, a one-seeded follicle, is spirally twisted. The scent of the leaves is quite different from that of the flowers.
History
Meadowsweet has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times and it remains popular as a herbal remedy to this day. It was in the flowerheads that salicylic acid was first discovered in 1839. It was from this substance that aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was later synthesized.
The common name, Meadowsweet, is said to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word medu (= mead) because the plant was once used to flavour the drink made from fermented honey.
Usage
- The flowers, and sometimes the young leaves and rhizomes, are used medicinally. All parts contain the glycosides gaultherin and spiraein, traces of an alkaloid (helio-tropine), tannins, a yellow pigment, vanillin and free salicylic acid, produced by the splitting of gaultherin and citric acid. These substances give the plant antipyretic, weak antispasmodic, astringent and antirheumatic properties.
- The flowers are used in an infusion to treat influenza, and to alleviate headache and rheumatic and arthritic pain.
- Meadowsweet is gentler on the stomach than aspirin and it is one of the most effective herbal remedies for gastritis and peptic ulcers.
- Both the leaves and flowers are also strongly diuretic and are used to treat certain bladder and kidney disorders.
- The fresh root is used in homeopathic preparations.
Growth Characteristics
Meadowsweet is common in damp woods and meadows, in fens and by riversides throughout Europe, including the British Isles.
Flowering time: June to September
Lovage – Herbal Remedy with a Sting in the Tail
UMBELLIFERAE/APIACEAE Levisticum officinale
Appearance
All of the parts of the plant are strongly fragrant. A perennial herb with a strong, hollow, angled and branched stem and substantial, long-stalked, bi- or tri-pinnate leaves with shiny dark-green leaflets. The stem leaves are less divided. The smallish greenish-yellow flowers are structured in a compound umbel. The fruit is a yellow-brown, ovoid dual achene with winged ribs.
History
Lovage is probably a native of the Mediterranean zone but it is now naturalized all over Europe in meadows and other grassy places in many regions of Europe.
Lovage was available to the classical Greeks who chewed the fruit to assist digestion and to ease flatulence; the plant has remained a preferred herbal option.
It enjoyed a reputation in a number of European states as an aphrodisiac, thus possibly its popular name. Most likely though the name Lovage is derived from an old English word loveache, from the much earlier Latin name ligusticum, after Liguria in Italy where the herb grew in abundance.
It is regularly grown as a garden herb and is commercially grown on a small scale for medicinal uses in various countries
Usage
- The roots of two- or three-year plants or the flowering stems (collected before flowering) are employed medicinally. Their ingredients incorporate an essential oil with terpineol and butyl phthalidine as its most important components, furanocoumarins, sugars, esters of organic acids and resin. These elements impart Lovage stomachic, carminative, cholagogic, diuretic, mild expectorant, antidiaphoretic and anti-rheumatic properties.
- In herbalism an infusion is used mainly to relieve flatulence, as an appetizer, for dropsy and urinary disorders, rheumatism and nervous exhaustion.
- A hot infusion can be used as an inhalant and if added to bathtub water, it possesses a cleansing and deodorizing effect on the skin.
- If taken internally in excess Lovage may cause feelings of nausea and vertigo.
ABOVE ALL, LARGE DOSES SHOULD NEVER BE TAKEN BY WOMEN WHO ARE PREGNANT OR BY INDIVIDUALS WITH KIDNEY DISEASES.
Growth Characteristics
Flowering period is July to August in the Northern hemisphere.
Hops For Clear Beer
CANNABACEAE Humuluslupulus
Appearance
A perennial climbing herb with a branched rhizome, lengthy roots along with a extensive, leafy, angled stalk which twins in a clockwise direction. The leaves are opposite, palmately three- to f ive-lobed and coarsely serrate.
The green flowers are dioecious: the male flowers are in drooping, axillary panicles; the tiny female blossoms are clustered in stalked, ovoid, cone-like spikes or strobiles (hops) with continual, sizeable, overlapping bracts. The bracts become papery once the fruiting head is ripened. The fruit is an achene encased in the perianth.
All elements of the plant are somewhat hairy.
History
Hops were useful to clear, preserve and also flavour beer since the Middle Ages but it was not until the 16th century that the process was introduced into Britain by Flemish immigrants. Only the female plants are produced commercially; the cones must not be pollinated. The origin of the generic name, Humulus, is uncertain; it may originate from the Latin word humus (= ground), a reference possibly to the rich soil in which Hop thrives.
Usage
The plant is still probably among the most useful of herbal remedies.
- The cones or strobiles are used medicinally. Once dried out they have a spicy aroma along with a bitter taste. The constituents incorporate a resin with bitter compounds (primarily humulone and lupulone), oestrogenic substances and an essential oil with humulene. These substances give Hop mild sedative, hypnotic, stomachic, diuretic and weak antiseptic properties.
- An infusion is used in herbalism for digestive conditions, nervous irritability, to induce sleep and as an antiaphrodisiac (in men).
- The most effective way of using hops for insomnia is in pillows.
- A tincture of the fresh cones is commonly used in homeopathy.
- The distilled essential oil is contained in some perfumes. Young shoots and immature leaves can be added to salads.
Growth Patterns
Flowering time: July to September
Hops grow in hedges and thickets throughout Europe, often from cultivation. In the British Isles hops grow wild in a number of parts of England and Wales and have been imported into Scotland and Ireland
Daisy Has the Answers
COMPOSITAE/ASTERACEAE Bettisperennis
Appearance
The lone flowerheads contain white to pinkish, ligulate ray-florets as well as yellow, tubular disc-florets that shut in the evening. Bees find the flowers highly appealing. Ail parts of the plant are sparsely hairy. The fruit is an oval, downy achene without a pappus.
The common name, Daisy, is made up of the Anglo-Saxon name daeges eage (= day’s eye), a reference to the plant’s resemblance to a ‘small sun’ since it opens and folds mornings and evenings.
History
Daisy is very common in the wild and in home gardens around the world. The generic name, Bellis, is said to originate from the Latin word bella (= beautiful) or from a dryad called Belidis.
The plant was at one time a preferred treatment for wounds and chest ailments and is even now incorporated into various contemporary herbal handbooks.
Usage
- Young fresh leaves may be used raw in salads or perhaps put into soups.
- In herbal medicine it is usually utilised as an infusion.
- Daisy makes an appealing addition to tea mixtures.
- Externally it can be found in compresses and bathtub preparations to treat skin disorders, wounds and bruises.
- A decoction from the fresh leaves is employed for the samel purposes.
- The flowerheads are utilized medicinally. The primary ingredients are saponins, an essential oil, tannins, mucilage, flavones and a bitter compound, these all give Daisy astringent and expectorant qualities.
- It has a useful influence on gastritis, enteritis and diarrhoea, and infections of the upper respiratory system.
Growth Characteristics
The basal rosette of spathulate, bluntly serrate leaves stands up adequately to competition from other plants, such as grasses, and from spring onwards Daisy successively produces several generations of blossoms.
A perennial herb of grassland in addition to weeds in lawns.
